Inception

[squirrel42]

I've done a search but can't seem to find any threads about Inception - am I the only one who's seen it and reeeeeeeally wants to talk about the plot, the twists and turns and spoilers there-in?

Well darn it I'm just going to start on my own. Stop here if you haven't seen it yet!

I loved it; I won't claim it's perfection and I won't claim to have understood it on as many levels as you probably can, but it was a jolly good couple of hours of entertainment and various concepts and ideas have been swirling around in my brain ever since. I loved the visuals, I loved the layers of dreams within dreams, I loved the hypnic jerk concept of the "kick" waking yourself up, I loved Joseph Gordon-Levitt's graceful anti-gravity maneuvering and I always have time for Cillian Murphy's cheekbones. I also loved the inconclusive ending, although I hate Christopher Nolan for doing it at the same time. The man is really good at what he does and effortlessly makes my brain turn to mush.

Niggles are that Ellen Page was a bit of a "cabbage" in her position as the audience proxy being introduced to everything for the first time - I heard her described as the film's walking FAQ and that was a little heavyhanded, but to be fair there was a lot to explain in a short space of time so they could get to the action. I felt her character could have been fleshed out a little more to make her seem less like a conduit for explaination. And in a very shallow fashion I'm a bit annoyed that they bundled everyone up in very unflattering ski-suits for the last dream, when they'd all been in such yummy suits in the hotel. Don't cover up the assets unecessarily!

I really want to go and see it again...

I liked Shutter Island. Definitely worth it.

It was well worth seeing on IMAX - I won't forget the scene where Paris folded over on itself, or where, in the last dream, you have the beach with crumbling cliffs made of appartment blocks. It was worth the money just for the look of it.
However, I found the story line uninvolving. IMO the centre of the story was about De Caprio's relationship with his wife, and Cillian Murphy's with his dad. I prefer to have the plot of this kind of film being about something 'bigger'. Thought the snowsuit section was OTT and should have been chopped.
Sorry this is all very rushed, the battery on my laptop is about to run out...

We went to see this last night. Thought it was ok and the idea of the layered dreams thing was great but the execution of the whole thing was a bit clumsy and generally disappointing.

I thought it was massively obvious that this is Part I and that the second (and probably third) films are already planned.

Thought the Bond snow scene was boring but then I find car chases/unbelievable shooting scenes and the like tedious (can you tell it was DH's idea to see this film? ).

Some good acting though in as much as they actors got to do any acting - very charismatic performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

This would have been a better film for me if Nolan had developed the actual importance of the mission a bit better - I needed to care a bit more about the energy superpower stuff, I needed to feel that it would have affected the world and therefore me. This wasn't developed enough IMO.

Also the fact that Cobb is trying to get back to his children means you know that he will not take really big risks or risk 'sacrificing' himself.

Nice though I suppose to see an action movie that is about a dad reuniting with his kids.

I liked the use of Piaf music as a nod to Cotillard's amazing performance in La Vie en Rose. The idea of the synchronised kicks was good too (even though the lift did not actually make sense).

Perhaps DH unintentionally set me up for disappointment because he said Inception has been much compared to The Matrix. I thought The Matrix was a much better film which messed with your head in a way this film just didn't manage to do.

Was very glad to have the children babysat and go out to the cinema for once though!

Forgot to say the parallels with addiction occurred to me too (in particular the scene at Yussaf's with all the people hooked up). This was an interesting idea that wasn't developed enough but perhaps they are going to do that in Part II?

Part II?? I loved the film so part of me wants there to be a sequel but I think the beauty of it was that you had so many questions. I think the film's designed to be left open to interpretation and therefore debate. If everything was finished off nicely with a definite ending, we'd have nothing to talk about!

I can't believe they put that other bit at the end of the credits though, most people leave as soon as the screen fades to black!

Amy

Cillian Murphy looks like a tranny. Too girly for me.

But he is a brilliant actor! :)

re "addiction to dreams"

Has anyone here seen "Until the end of the World"? It's a film by Wim Wenders with William Hurt that came out about 15 yrs ago, iirc. Watching each other's dreams, being addicted to dreams etc were themes developed in an interesting manner in that film.

Also, anyone who has enjoyed Inception should watch David Cronenberg's "eXistenZ".

re lift scene - Someone explained it to me as "They had to be awake in the lift before gravity hit so they could awaken from that dream. So he blows up the brakes then sets the lift in motion with yet another charge to generate the "kick".

Except that, of course, if you blow explosives under a lift, you won't accelerate it. You will make a hole in the lift and kill all passengers. But anyway...

re last scene. he saw his kids, but they were the kids from his dreams ie same checkered red dress and the same clothes on his boy. i thought then that he must've been in a dream state.
also, he didn't wait for his totem to fall from spinning and just ran to his kids. opposite reaction to how he kept going on to his wife about how it he had to be living in reality and not the dream world